The Many Faces of the Real ID Act
May 1, 2006 - News
PrivacyActivism begins a multi-part series on the Real ID Act. The Act won't protect us against terrorism, but it will add layers of bureaucracy, increase the costs in time and money for us to obtain a driver's license.
The Many Faces of the Real ID Act
Part One - Do You Know Where Your Birth Certificate Is?
No one looks forward to a trip to the DMV, braving endless lines, endless forms, and endless bureaucracy, all in the name of renewing your driver's license. However, if the Real ID act of 2005 is put into effect in California, things will go from bad to awful.
You will need to dig up your birth certificate, and your social security card (yes, the actual card), along with utility bills linking your name to your address and bring them with you, in order to renew your license. You will wait in lines longer than you can currently imagine, and, often, will need to return to the DMV more than once to provide more detailed information. Your driver's license will cost you exponentially more to renew, either in the form of a one-time fee or through higher state taxes. Renewing a license by mail will no longer be an option. Renewing a license online, which is currently an option in California (http://www.dmv.ca.gov/) will also be eliminated under the Real ID act.
Starting in 2008, you will need this special new driver's license in order to board commercial flights, domestic or international. You will also need to show this ID to enter any federal building, and in many cases you will need it to get a job. And because the Real ID Act requires each state’s DMV system to share drivers' records with all other states, your driver’s license will become an internal passport of sorts; America’s first national ID card.
There is far more at stake here than inconvenience. The Real ID Act was created to make America safer, but its implementation will put American citizens at higher risk.
The Real ID Act was passed in May 2005, but it was not approved on its own merit. Instead it was attached to a "must-pass" military spending bill, and it slipped quietly through congress without hearings, comment periods, or healthy debate. This is one of many reasons that the Real ID Act remains deeply controversial.
First and foremost, most DMVs are operating on software systems that are decades old. To meet the requirements of the Real ID act, most DMVs would have to update their entire systems, which would be prohibitively expensive. No federal money was allotted by the government to help states make these extensive changes, so the burden will fall entirely on the states, and of course, the taxpayers. Washington State estimates that implementation will cost at least $50 million a year over a period of six years, and states the fees for the license will increase. Virginia expects to spend $169 million in start-up costs, and between $1 million and $63 million annually.
However, exorbitant costs are just the tip of the iceberg. The Real ID Act will also turn the average DMV into the largest repository of personally identifiable information on American citizens, with the possible exception of data aggregators like Choicepoint and Axiom. The DMV will be required not only to examine your birth certificate and social security card, but also to scan and create digital copies of them in their system, as well as collecting further information on their forms. These requirements create a host of problematic scenarios. They may be a one-stop shop for identity theft, compromising the security of our most personal identifying information, and they will remain vulnerable to those who seek false ID cards.
DMVs are not secure buildings, and when they begin housing such sensitive information, they will be vulnerable to attack. Already, there are documented instances of trucks being driven into DMV buildings, so that the driver could steal both the hardware on which the licenses are made, which are valuable in producing fake IDs and the information on DMV computer systems. If people will go to such lengths now, imagine how the stakes will be raised when so much more information is stored in one area.
Identity theft is already troublesome in the United States. One current saving grace is that our personal information is scattered across a number of different sources. No one can get hold of your medical records by hacking into your bank account and vice versa. The Real ID Act will consolidate far more sensitive information in a single database, so that when the system is hacked - and it will be – it will be a goldmine for any identity thief.
Most importantly, storing this information in order to create improved driver's licenses will not keep us safe in the ways it is meant to, and will expose us to new threats. DMVs are generally staffed by low-paid government employees. Some of them can be, and are, bribed for both fake licenses and information. In 2002, a high level DMV employee acknowledged that bribery sometimes occurs, and was able to pinpoint the going price of a fake driver's license at $1,500. The changes required by the Real ID act will make it more difficult and more expensive to obtain these fake licenses. It will become next to impossible for the average teenager to pull it off. But a member of a terrorist group with an agenda and most likely, a large budget, can find away around obstacles, even those set up by the Real ID act.
Though the safeguards set up by the Real ID Act will not protect us against terrorism, it will expose us to other crimes. Just as DMV employees can be bribed for fake licenses, they can also be bribed for the profiles of the citizens in their database. With the provisions of the Real ID Act in place, those who pay for information will be rewarded with far more than they could expect before. This creates more temptation for identity theft, and leaves the average citizen in a far more dangerous situation if her/his information is leaked, or their driver's license is lost. Proving that you are who you say you are could become a far more difficult task.
Because there is so much at stake with the Real ID Act, it is important to take action. Write a letter to your state governor and let her/him know about your concerns. Here in California, you can send a letter to Arnold Schwarzenegger at the following address. We can make a difference!
Governor's Office
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633
Follow this link to send him an email: http://www.govmail.ca.gov
You can find addresses for districts offices throughout the state of California at: http://www.governor.ca.gov/state/govsite/gov_contacts.jsp
Stay tuned for Part Two of "The Many Faces of Real ID."
Last updated May 1, 2006